


D??? Strider: Choose name.

by d0ct0rd0ct0r



Series: Transstuck [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Genderqueer Character, Other, Transgender, Transstuck, genderqueer jade, trans boy rose, trans girl dave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-10
Updated: 2012-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-03 09:35:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/379955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d0ct0rd0ct0r/pseuds/d0ct0rd0ct0r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>D. Strider must choose her name. Being trans is hard, it's hard and nobody understands. (Parallel to "Empress")</p>
            </blockquote>





	D??? Strider: Choose name.

You have always liked the sound of Daphne.  
You are not as fond as something non-confusing and close to your birthname as your "brother." Roan, when he chose his adopted name, went for something memorable and a couple letters off from the name given to him at birth.  
But you? You're a fan of the confusing.

Your actual brother, however, is not.  
"C'mon Da--," he said once (you can't blame him on the name because you haven't got one yet), "you don't want to have the same name as that bimbo from Scooby Doo." You admitted that he had a point, but it didn't matter. Daphne sounds way better than anything he's come up with-- least of all Dawn, which rhymes with John, which was the name of the guy you used to "like." That like ended when you found a kindred spirit in long, silky dark hair and the color of cool trees on a tropical island. (You still sometimes wonder if John would still assert that he "is not a homosexual" if you asked him out after you came out.)

Besides, Dawn is a name that you feel is unsuited to you. Roan-- the only one of your little group who Knows (except Jade, who knows everything)-- jokes that he'll have to persist in calling you David because there is no correct option. In return, you threaten to use the rose word and he falls silent. Nobody (who isn't Jade: aka just John) suspects that "princess sparkle flower pony" Dave isn't a guy. Not even with Roan standing there, proud of himself for coming out and silently nudging you.  
But you can't.  
Not until you have a name.

Your Bro surprisingly has your birth certificate all prepared and is ready to head to court to change your name.  
But you don't have one.

So you think and think and think. You think in those cut-off denim shorts that come to your mid-thigh and show off your legs. You think in the worn out jeans in which you spar with your Bro. Sometimes, you think in the small, shiny miniskirt your Bro gave you as a gift for coming out. You even think in the soft, ankle-length skirt that Jade sent you before you ever thought about coming out. Maybe that's your favorite to wear when you think, because it is soft and familiar and smells of the earth where Jade lives.

And it is in that skirt where you finally come to a conclusion.

Of course, you message Jade and Roan before anything else; they're your soulmate (you hopeless romantic, you) and your strange twin, after all. Roan thinks that it is fantastic and swears to use it right away. Jade says that it's the prettiest thing ze (you memorized Jade's pronouns long ago, when you first fell in love with zir) has ever heard and asks you if ze can whisper it over and over.

You pause your brother's film right in the middle to make him pay attention. The lights go on and you look him dead in the shades, one Strider to another. And so you tell him your final choice.

He wonders and looks at you and says that it's a good enough a name as any. Bro writes it down on the coffee-stained court paper and nods at you as dismissal.

You voice call Jade that night and ze whispers your name to you until you fall asleep.

Daph, Daph, Daph.

Daph Strider.

**Author's Note:**

> Yup! Same universe as "Empress." Daph/Jade is pretty much canon, too, and maybe Roan/John (if John can ever get his head around dating a guy... but that's another story for another time).


End file.
